'King Mo' Lawal returns to action at Bellator 90 at Utah's Maverik Center

According to a Jan. 29 report from Sherdog, 'King Mo' Lawal returns to action at Bellator 90 at Utah's Maverik Center.

Lawal faces Emanuel Newton on Feb. 21 in a Season 8 light heavyweight tournament semifinal at Bellator 90.

After an explosive knockout victory in his Bellator debut, King Mo is set to return to the Bellator cage when he battles “The Hardcore Kid” Emmanuel Newton in a Light Heavyweight Semifinal fight on Feb. 21 from Utah’s Maverik Center live on Spike TV.

The night will also feature the long anticipated Featherweight Tournament Finals as Utah’s Own Rad Martinez battles the dynamic Russian striker Shahbulat Shamhalaev for a $100,000 Tournament prize and a guaranteed title shot.

Tickets for the event start as low as $40 and can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and the Maverik Center Box Office.

The event will broadcast live starting at 8 p.m. MST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com starting at 6 p.m. MST.

Widely regarded as one of the best light heavyweights in the world, King Mo is well aware of the challenges that await him as Newton holds an impressive arsenal of wrestling and standup skills that to date with be King Mo’s toughest tournament challenge.

Having trained together at the legendary American Kickboxing Academy, both competitors are well aware of what’s at stake Feb. 21st.

“I said it after my quarterfinal win, and I’ll say it again, I’m looking to smash this dude,” King Mo said. “Emmanuel is a tough guy, but I know where my game is at, and if I focus on me, we won’t have any issues on Feb. 21st. I’m always looking for that first round knockout, and that’s it.”

“This is my time. Everyone knows Mo and what he brings to the table, and he’s the guy I have to get through to get to my belt,” Newton said. “The belt is what I’m here for, and it doesn’t matter who is in my way to get there.”

For Martinez, the West Jordan native makes his Utah homecoming riding an impressive five fight win streak, including Bellator Tournament victories over top featherweights Nazareno Malegarie and Wagnney Fabiano.

Already tasked with preparing for the biggest fight of his career, Martinez knows what’s at stake with his hometown crowd behind him.

“To have the opportunity to fight in Salt Lake City for the Bellator Featherweight Tournament Championship is just a dream come true,” Martinez said. “Utah has a great base of MMA fans, but we’ve never had a big MMA promotion come to Salt Lake City, so it’s a great honor to be headlining Utah’s first large scale MMA event.”